Molly Suhadolnik: Choose a motivator for workouts

Tuesday

Apr 26, 2011 at 12:01 AMApr 26, 2011 at 4:06 PM

Why do you workout? Do you have any goals, or are you just doing it to say you workout? Are you actually doing any good in the gym, or just going through the motions and maintaining your fitness level?

Molly Suhadolnik

Why do you workout? Do you have any goals, or are you just doing it to say you workout? Are you actually doing any good in the gym, or just going through the motions and maintaining your fitness level?

If you devote an hour in the gym five days per week, that's over 260 hours per year. With that much time devoted to fitness, why not make it as effective as possible?

Sure, everyone wants to be lean and look good, but that is a shallow motivator. Try to find something that will take the focus away from the aesthetics, as this can lead you down a very depressing and obsessive circle of events.

Instead, try to find a motivator that will focus on your physical performance: getting fitter. Having goals surrounding personal physical feats takes the focus off of fat loss or weight loss and puts it on your performance of physical tasks.

The beauty of this is that the byproduct of working to become fitter is a leaner, stronger, healthier you. The worries about looks and weight simply become an added benefit to your regime.

There are plenty of physical tasks to start thinking about using as motivators. The best thing to do is to get out of your comfort zone and try something you haven't ever done before. This will shock your body and cause an adaptation to occur: strength gains, fat loss, improved agility, etc.

You can start within the gym for some ideas. Have you ever tried powerlifting (back squats, dead lifts, bench press)? If not, find a coach who can help you out with some programming to train these lifts and find your maxes so you’re constantly chasing goals.

Olympic lifting is another sport to look into. It requires great strength, speed, coordination, flexibility and power. This sport trains two major lifts, the Clean and Jerk and Snatch. This is not as common as powerlifting, but it is definitely more athletic. There are also competitions for Olympic lifting when you are ready to take it to that level.

Take a look outside the gym for things to focus on. During the summer, there are many races to train for. There are simple 5K runs (and walks), 10-mile runs, half marathons and more. There are also bike races and even biathlons (running and biking). If you'd like to try something more extreme, there are several triathlons and mini-triathlons to try.

Sometimes, sports are a better motivator. Why not make a goal to workout to get better at basketball so you can play against your friends or your kids? If you play volleyball or softball for fun with your friends, why not train harder to be better at your sport? If you have ever been an athlete, it's nice to get back to having something to train for.

Motivators can start small as well; they don't have to be for something organized or sport related. If you are not very active, you should start with small steps, such as working towards taking the stairs at work without getting short winded, having more energy to play with your kids, going on a family hike or simply showing your doctor you can get healthier (and possibly get off of some medications).

Having a reason to workout is more powerful than you think. It keeps you motivated and gives you a reason for that extra push.

Take the focus off of looks (weight, fat, muscle tone, etc.) and free yourself from that trap. Being motivated to get in better shape is healthier for your body and your mind.